


If It Ain't Broke (Fix It Anyway)

by siriuslyyellow



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: AU, Crack, Fluff, Gift Fic, Happy Birthday kowaiyoukai!, Humor, M/M, My First Work in This Fandom, Paragon Commander Shepard, fix it fic (ba dum ching), mShenko, possibly OOC everyone, this might legit be the most ridiculous thing ive ever written
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-10
Updated: 2013-09-10
Packaged: 2017-12-25 22:35:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/958381
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/siriuslyyellow/pseuds/siriuslyyellow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The alcove on the second floor of the Normandy was suspiciously empty. John stopped short and stared at the spot where his trusted biotic Lieutenant usually worked. Where was the man? Outside of taking him along on missions, John had never seen him anywhere else on the ship. </p>
<p>(This takes place during Mass Effect 1. There are no spoilers for any of the games. ^_^)</p>
            </blockquote>





	If It Ain't Broke (Fix It Anyway)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [kowaiyoukai](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kowaiyoukai/gifts).



> Happy 29th birthday to the always incredible kowaiyoukai! I hope you love this fic as much as I loved the idea and making it come to life! :'D <3
> 
> Many thanks to the wonderful AlakiNoelle who beta'ed this with very little time to spare! All mistakes are my own. I own nothing. This is my first mshenko fic, as well as my first Mass Effect fic. I hope you all enjoy it! ^__^*

The alcove on the second floor of the Normandy was suspiciously empty. John stopped short and stared at the spot where his trusted biotic Lieutenant usually worked. Where was the man? Outside of taking him along on missions, John had never seen him anywhere else on the ship.

Taking a few steps forward to investigate the area, John found that the monitor that Kaidan had been working on was not only in working order, but also seemed to be performing at top capacity. John wished Kaidan would have told him that the job was done. He would have praised Kaidan for his good work and given him another assignment.

John clucked his tongue and put his hands on his hips, tapping his foot as he thought about where Kaidan might have wandered off to. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dr. Chakwas leaving her lab.

"Dr. Chakwas!" John called, and jogged over to her.

"Yes, Commander? Is there something you need?" Dr. Chakwas replied with a smile.

John nodded. "Have you seen Lieutenant Alenko?"

Dr. Chakwas shook her head. "I haven't. He's not by the monitor where he usually is?"

John shook his head. "No, he's not." He stopped himself from adding that if Kaidan had been there, he wouldn't have asked her if she had seen the Lieutenant in the first place.

"Maybe he had an errand to run. I'm sure he'll be back soon, Commander. It's not like he left the ship," Dr. Chakwas laughed a little and dismissed the notion with a wave of her hand.

John paled. "I should go."

He was already walking towards the stairs when Dr. Chakwas replied, ""Of course, Commander."

John took the stairs two at a time as he headed towards the command center. Once he arrived, he hurried past the saluting soldiers and typed a few keys on a nearby console. The flight record indicated that no ships had arrived or left since Kaidan, Garrus, and himself had returned from a supply run to the Citadel. John logically knew that already, but it gave him some relief seeing it on the screen.

For a moment there, he had a crazy notion that Kaidan had left the Normandy. John knew that his reaction to the thought had been extreme, but he didn't understand why. He knew that Kaidan could take care of himself. It was unlike Kaidan to leave the ship without notifying anyone, especially when he had a commanding officer to report to. John shook his head, clearing his thoughts. Of course Kaidan didn't leave the ship. The evidence was right there on the screen in front of John. He paused, suddenly horrified, then typed another few buttons and saw that no airlocks had been opened since their trip, either.

John let out a sigh, relieved.

He must have looked strange somehow because Navigator Pressly approached him slowly and asked, concerned, "Are you okay, Commander?"

John blinked a few times, then nodded and forced a smile. "Yes, of course. Why wouldn't I be?" When Pressly hesitated, John became annoyed and snapped, "Well, spit it out, Pressly!"

Pressly immediately stood at attention. "Sir, yes, sir! You seemed distressed. I was concerned. Apologies, Commander."

John felt bad for snapping at the man and sighed. "It's all right, Pressly. I appreciate your concern. There's no need to apologize. I just can't find Kaidan."

"Lieutenant Alenko? He's not up by the mess?"

John shook his head.

Pressly let out a short, low hum as he thought. After a few moments, he shrugged. "Maybe he had to use the can." John sighed. He hated that slang term. Pressly paused, then added, "You could use the ship's intercom to call him, sir."

John shook his head, quickly waving the idea away with his hand. "It's not that important." Pressly nodded. "I should go," John stated, managing to only sound slightly dejected.

"Commander." Pressly nodded, then walked back to his station.

John considered checking the bathroom like Pressly had suggested. It really hadn't been that long since John started looking for Kaidan, and John thought looking in the bathroom for the Lieutenant would make him seem like an awkward stalker. So instead, he headed for the front of the ship.

Joker noticed his approach and turned his seat to face John, nodding in greeting. "Something I can do for you, Commander?"

John nodded. "Have you seen Lieutenant Alenko?"

Joker shook his head. "Not since he came back from the Citadel, sir."

John nodded again. "Has there been any unauthorized activity on the ship since then?"

"No, but I would have paged you if there was."

"I know, Joker. Just covering all my bases. So there hasn't been anything happening out there at all?" John sounded doubtful, and inclined his head towards the ship's main window.

"Nothing up here but us and the stars, sir," Joker replied confidently.

John sighed and nodded. "Okay, thanks." He hesitated, then added, "If you see Kaidan, please tell him I'm looking for him?"

Joker nodded in reply. "Sure thing. What should I tell him it's about?"

John paused. "Uh... Nothing."

Joker blinked. "Riiiiight. If I see Kaidan, I'll tell him you want to see him about nothing."

John closed his eyes and sighed. "I should go."

The pilot chair turned back around as Joker smiled and nodded, amused. "Later, Commander."

John walked quickly down to the elevator. He pressed the button for the docking bay. The ride seemed to take forever, and he bounced on his heels as he waited for the thing to stop. John was out of the elevator before the doors finished opening.

He looked to his left at the Requisitions Officer. "Have you seen Lieutenant Alenko?"

The man shook his head. "No. Do you need supplies?"

John groaned in frustration. "No!"

The officer called after John as he walked towards Wrex, "Come back if you change your mind, Commander!"

John looked at his krogan teammate. "Have you seen Kaidan?"

Wrex smirked. "Right to business, eh?"

John waved a hand. "Cut the crap, Wrex. Have you seen him or not?"

"Whoa, easy there, Shepard."

"I'm sorry, I know I'm snapping, I just can't find him anywhere, and I-"

Wrex nodded. "I get it. Just don't bite my head off about it."

"Sorry. Guess I'm freaking out." John scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

Shrugging, Wrex replied, "It's understandable. You have a missing crew member."

John's eyes widened in a panic. "You think he's missing, too?!"

Wrex made a downward motion with both his hands, as if to tell John to settle down. "Easy, Shepard. I don't think your human is missing."

"But you just said..," John trailed off, then abruptly finished with, "Wait, what do you mean, 'my human'?"

"He's the most important person to you, right?" Wrex asked, sounding like the answer was obvious.

John didn't answer right away, thinking over Wrex's words. What exactly did Wrex mean by calling Kaidan 'his human'? HIS human? What did that even mean? And what exactly was Wrex trying to imply, saying that Kaidan was the most important person to John? Did Wrex know something he didn't know?

After a few moments, Wrex shook his head, as if giving up on John understanding what he was saying, and then he simply stated, "I'm sure he'll turn up. Ship's not THAT big." John sighed. After another moment of silence, Wrex assumed their conversation was over, and so he nodded and said, "Shepard."

John had nothing more to say, either, so he nodded back and replied, "Wrex." He turned and looked at Ashley. Maybe she would have more relevant information than Wrex did. Taking the few steps to get to Ashley, he nodded at her and said, "Chief Williams."

Ashley turned around to face him and saluted. "What can I do for you, sir?"

"Have you seen the Lieutenant around lately?"

Ashley's brows knitted together. "I haven't, sir."

"Have you had any communication with him since we arrived back from the Citadel?"

Ashley nodded. "He put his things away in his locker. We said hi. I asked him how the supply run went. He said it went well and asked how my work was coming. I said it was coming along just fine. Then he said he had to go up to the mess to work on that monitor he's always by. We said bye and he left."

"But he's not AT the monitor, Williams. He's not even in the mess at all," John replied, frustrated.

"I... don't know what to tell you about that, sir."

John sighed, nodding. "I didn't expect you to. What time did you see him last?"

Ashley thought for a moment, then responded, "About fifteen hundred, sir."

"'About'?"

She gave him a look. "I wasn't checking my watch at the time, Commander."

John waved a hand. "Yes, of course. And you haven't heard anything else about the Lieutenant since then?" 

"No, sir," she replied. John didn't respond right away, trying to think of any other useful questions he could ask her. Ashley helpfully continued, "I'll tell him you're looking for him when I see him."

John nodded. "Right. As you were, Williams."

"Commander," Ashley replied, then went back to her work.

 

John decided to move right along to his next potential lead, his turian teammate. He turned around and walked straight across the docking bay to where Garrus was standing, looking anxious.

Before John could say anything, Garrus said, "Why are you running around here like a maniac, Shepard?"

"I'm looking for Kaidan. Have you seen him?"

Garrus hesitated. "Not recently."

"Come on, Garrus. I know you know something," John replied, silently urging Garrus to help.

Garrus snorted. "I wish I knew more. Honestly, you two are impossible."

John's eyebrows furrowed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Garrus held up a hand. "Don't get offended. You know I'd help you if I could, Shepard. But I can't."

"What? Why not? I've barely asked you anything yet," John replied, irritated.

Garrus waved a hand. "You asked if I've seen Kaidan. I haven't seen him in a while. Was there something else you wanted to know?"

"Yeah, when did you last see him?"

"A few hours ago," Garrus answered, shortly.

John nodded. "Where was that?"

"Down here."

Garrus' story matched up with what Ashley said, and since Garrus seemed to be in a bad mood, John decided not to question him further about it. Instead, John said, "Why are you being so short today? It's like you're pissed off or something."

"I AM pissed off!" Garrus growled back.

"What? Why?" John had no idea what could have possibly gotten Garrus in such a bad mood.

Garrus waved a hand in the air and exclaimed, "Between the two of you, I don't know who's worse! You both need to figure your shit out!"

"Hey, watch it, Garrus," John replied, stern. He narrowed his eyes. "I don't know why you're mad but don't take it out on me."

Garrus paused, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "You're right. Sorry, Shepard."

John nodded. "It's fine. We all have days like that. I'll talk to you later, Garrus."

"Commander," Garrus replied.

John was completely baffled by Garrus' sudden mood swing, but he had more important matter to deal with right now. It would have to be put on the back burner until after he found Kaidan.

He made his way down the hall to the engine room. "Adams," he called as soon as he entered the room. "Have you seen Lieutenant Alenko lately?"

Adams shook his head. "Sorry, Commander. I haven't seen the Lieutenant since lunch."

John sighed. "All right. Thanks, Adams."

Adams nodded. "Of course, Commander." He turned back to his work station, oblivious of John's inner turmoil.

John turned to Tali, but before he could speak, Tali said, "No, Shepard, I have not seen Kaidan." John stared at her for a moment, mouth slightly agape, surprised by his quarian teammate's intuition. Tali continued, "What, you think I can't hear across the room?" Her tone made John think that she was raising her eyebrow at him, but with her mask on, he really couldn't tell.

John simply nodded. "No, of course not, Tali. I just wasn't thinking straight. Sorry."

Tali nodded and replied sympathetically, "You're worried about him."

John hesitated for a second, then scoffed. "Me? Worried about Kaidan? Come on, Tali, that's ridiculous."

Tali tilted her head. "Shepard," she stated in a no-nonsense tone. "You're worried."

John swallowed. Was he worried? Is that what he was feeling? He wasn't sure, but he knew that he did not want to be having this conversation at all. "I'll... see about that. See you later, Tali."

Tali sighed. "See you later, Shepard."

John did another quick once-over of the engine room and then the docking bay. Then he got back on the elevator and pressed the button to go up. The elevator crawled along again and John felt his nerves rise with each passing second. Where had Kaidan gone? There was only one person he could think of that he hadn't spoken to yet. And so, when the elevator doors opened, John walked straight into the sick bay and headed for the back room where Liara was working. She stood up when he entered.

"Hello, Shepard. What can I do for you?" Liara asked in a calm voice that didn't match John's mood.

"Have you seen Kaidan?" John replied in a rush.

Liara looked slightly taken aback at John's urgent tone. "No, I have not. Not recently. Why? Is the Lieutenant in some kind of trouble?"

John paled. "Oh, God. I hope not."

"Oh, yes, I'm quite sure that he is just fine. Lieutenant Alenko is perfectly capable of handling himself, after all. He's fine, Shepard," Liara replied, trying to reassure John.

John swallowed and nodded. He knew she was right, but he didn't feel reassured in the least. John already knew Kaidan could take care of himself, after all. He wasn't afraid of that. He was... What was he?

John gave Liara a weak smile. "Thanks. I should go."

Liara nodded and smiled back, trying to cheer John up. "Goodbye, Shepard."

He left his asari teammate's work place in a sort of daze. He wasn't worried that Kaidan was in trouble. But earlier, Tali had been right. John was worried about something. Was it that Kaidan had left? But no, John thought, quickly shaking his head. He reassured himself with the knowledge that Kaidan was a good soldier; he wouldn't abandon the team. But he did leave his post. Why would he do that? Dozens of awful ideas circled John's mind at once, but he shook them off. The logical side of his brain would have it's last stand whether John wanted it to or not. There was only one thing left to do when a Commander was searching for his Lieutenant who had apparently evaporated into thin air.

Oh, God.

Had Kaidan evaporated into thin air?

John shook his head. No, that was preposterous. There was only one thing left to do.

He would page Kaidan.

John hadn't wanted to do that. The intercom was normally saved for when someone actually needed it, not when someone just wanted to find out where someone else was. But John was the Commander, and he told himself that he could use his ship's intercom to order in pizza if he felt like it. It was nobody's business but his. And everyone else on the ship who could hear.

John raced up the stairs to the bridge and convinced himself on the way that he didn't have to be embarrassed because he wasn't doing anything weird. He was just looking for one of his teammates, that was all.

He stopped in front of the intercom, and before he could page, Pressly said, "I thought it wasn't that important, sir?"

 

"It just GOT that important!" John snapped at him.

 

Pressly stood at attention and saluted. "Yes, Commander!"

 

John sighed. "It's fine, Pressly. Don't worry about it. I don't know why I'm so worked up."

 

John only saw a hint of Pressly smiling before Pressly hid it and nodded. "Sir."

 

John turned back to the intercom console. He took a deep breath, cleared his throat, pressed the intercom button, and used the calmest and clearest voice he could muster when he paged, "Lieutenant Alenko, please respond." He let go of the button and waited for a minute before paging again, in a more stern voice, "Lieutenant Alenko, respond." After another minute, John looked over at Pressly. Pressly shook his head mutely. When John next looked at Joker, the pilot gave John the same silent head shake. "Dammit," John mumbled to himself.

Why wouldn't Kaidan reply to a page? There was absolutely no reason. Unless he had a reason to not respond. Maybe he was asleep. The page would have woken him up, though. But maybe it wouldn't have if Kaidan was unconscious. But if he was unconscious, then he was injured. And if he was injured, then he could be stuck anywhere. If it was a head injury, he might not remember his name. That could be why he didn't reply. If it was bad enough, he might not even be able to get help.

Kaidan could, at this very moment, be bleeding out from a severe head wound that caused amnesia somewhere on the Normandy.

The sudden thought made him more nervous and worried than he thought was possible. He knew it was ridiculous, but it wasn't entirely out of the realm of possibilities. And those kind-of things happened a lot to John nowadays. John paused, trying to get back some of his composure, but he was overtaken with one idiotic, all-encompassing thought:

He lost Kaidan.

Or, more accurately, Kaidan was lost.

Either way, John was not having any of this shit.

He looked all over the floor he was on. John checked the whole upper level area twice. Unsurprisingly, Kaidan was nowhere to be found. John knew he had already checked the lower level, so that only left the middle level. He doubted Kaidan would be there, at this point thinking he must be in the Normandy's hull somehow, but he thought he would try searching there again anyway.

John jogged down the stairs and investigated the entire area around the mess hall and the sick bay. He found nothing. That only left the bathroom.

Now John felt like a stalker. Was he really going to check the bathroom for Kaidan? But no, what if Kaidan had fallen and hit his head and slipped into a coma? It was the Commander's job to help his crew members in need.

Right?

Right.

John steeled himself against his own awkwardness and walked towards the bathroom. He gently rapped his knuckles on the door. "Hello, is anyone in there?"

"Uh, yeah. You can come in, though. There's more than one stall," a male voice called back.

John felt like an idiot. Who knocks on the entrance door to a public bathroom with several stalls? Apparently Commander Shepard, that's who.

 

He straightened his back and walked in. "Is everything all right in here?"

The crewman, who was in the middle of washing his hands, stared at John, looking like a deer caught in headlights. "Commander!" The man rushed to salute John, causing soapy water to get on his face and in his eye and hair. "Ow, euugh!"

John rushed over, pulled some tissues out of the box by the sink, and held the back of the man's head as he blotted the tissues on his eye. "Are you all right?"

The man laughed a little bit, clearly embarrassed. "I think I'll make it, sir." He took the tissues and John stepped back. The man continued drying his face off as he said, "And yes, sir, everything is fine in here. Is there some reason it shouldn't be?"

John quickly shook his head. "No reason. Just checking to make sure everything is in tip-top shape. Good work. Carry on."

The man looked down at the sink then back up at John, confused. But he saluted again and simply stated, "Yes, Commander. Thank you, sir."

John took an extra minute to check the stalls before he left. Kaidan wasn't there. There weren't any cracks in the walls, either, so if Kaidan was lost somewhere in the hull of the Normandy, he didn't get lost in the bathroom. John nodded at the crewman on his way out, then thought about anywhere he might not have checked.

And suddenly the answer was so obvious, John felt like an idiot again, but this time for ever bothering with checking the entire ship in the first place.

John hadn't checked Kaidan's room. Maybe Kaidan was sick. But he didn't call any sort of illness in to the sick bay or to John himself, for that matter. John shook his head. Regardless, John headed there next.

He walked intently towards the crew's quarters. When he got to Kaidan's room, he knocked quickly on the door. "Kaidan?" John called. "You in there?" After a few seconds of silence, John knocked again. "Kaidan? Are you all right?" There was still no answer, so John tried the door. It was unlocked. "I'm coming in, Kaidan." He poked his head inside and then stepped through.

As John looked around, he realized that he had never been in Kaidan's quarters before. The room was small, neat, and orderly. It didn't look like there was a scuffle of any sort. The bed was made and no clothes were laying around. John suddenly felt strange, like he really shouldn't have come into Kaidan's room without the man saying it was okay. John rationalized that Kaidan was missing, and as the Commander he would have to forgo some polite courtesies in order to find him.

Speaking of forgoing polite courtesies, John decided he would check the other crew members' quarters as well. He walked down the hall, knocking on doors and checking unlocked empty rooms. Nothing was out of order.

There was only one locked room that seemed to be empty, and after considering breaking in, the door opened to reveal a crewwoman who was wearing workout clothes and ear buds. She startled when she saw John, quickly pulling the ear buds out of her ears, standing at attention, and saluting him. "Commander!"

John nodded. "At ease. Is anyone else in this room with you?"

The woman looked confused, but answered, "No, sir. Just me."

John looked behind her, saw the room was empty, and nodded. "Good. Carry on."

She saluted him again. "Sir, yes, sir!"

He walked away from the crewwoman who was almost certainly staring curiously after him. He was disappointed that he still hadn't found Kaidan even after checking all the quarters, but also irrationally happy about it.

John really didn't know what he'd do if he found Kaidan in another crew member's room.

His eyes widened momentarially as another idea hit him. He hadn't checked his own quarters. Maybe Kaidan had a personal or important message for John that he didn't feel comfortable sharing over the intercom. That could be it.

That has to be it.

John quickly headed for his own private room. He went inside and let out a growl of frustration when he saw that not only was it empty, but there was no message anywhere, and it was clear that no one had been in here since he left.

John sat down on the edge of his bed and put his head in his hands. He had literally checked everywhere on the Normandy, and there was no sign of Kaidan anywhere. He had been up and down every corridor at least three times and he hadn't bumped into the man or talked to anyone who had seen him. And practically everyone knew that John was searching the ship for Kaidan at this point, so if someone had seen him recently, they would have let John know.

He took a few deep breaths, trying not to have a panic attack. Where else could Kaidan be? Think, John told himself. Where else could he be?

John did a mental run down of everywhere he had checked. After a few minutes, his head popped up. He got it. He realized the only place he hadn't checked.

John ran out of his room and rushed to the elevator. He practically pushed the doors open in his haste to get in. He kept smacking the button inside the elevator until it started moving, and he ran out of the elevator so fast that he tripped over the still-opening door. John ran up towards a startled Garrus, and reached past him to hold onto the Mako's door. Garrus stepped in front of him, blocking the way. John narrowed his eyes at Garrus and said in his most threatening voice, "Move."

Garrus swallowed, nervous but hesitant. "He doesn't want to see you, Shepard," he replied, gently.

"I don't fucking give a rat's ass what he wants. Move right now, Garrus, or so help me, God, I will MAKE you."

Garrus put his arms up in surrender. "Tell him I tried, okay?" He stepped away from the Mako.

John yanked open the Mako's door and stepped inside, slamming the door shut behind him.

Inside, he was finally face to face with Kaidan, who had such an exaggerrated look of surprise on his face that it would have been comical had John not been so infuriated.

They stared at each other for a moment, and then John took two steps towards Kaidan. John's right fist balled and he lifted his arm to throw a punch before he could even think about it. His rage-filled mind didn't completely overtake him, however, and when he threw the punch, he made sure it landed against the Mako's wall instead of Kaidan's face.

It landed right next to Kaidan's face, but that was better than the alternative, and there was really only so much anyone could reasonably expect of John at the moment.

John's fist was still against the wall. His eyes were shut tight. He forced them open, shocked to find Kaidan grinning at him.

"It worked!" Kaidan laughed. "I knew it would work!"

John blinked. His words had left him.

Kaidan's eyes and smile changed from gleeful to affectionate. "I knew you would get mad when you couldn't find me," he said in a soft voice. "Or at least, I hoped you would."

John blinked again. "Wh-Why would you want me to get mad?" His anger came back to him in a rush, and he grabbed Kaidan's bicep with his left hand and yanked the man closer to him. John could feel his chest against Kaidan's as he hissed, "I've been looking EVERYWHERE for you! Do you know how crazy you made me?!"

Kaidan looked a little smug and mischevious as he nodded in reply.

"Then why do it? Kaidan!" John exclaimed, ready to pull his own hair out in frustration.

Kaidan looked a little sad as he quietly replied, "Because you never noticed me." John could feel Kaidan's breath on his face as the man continued, "I made sure to stay by that stupid monitor as much as I could, just so that you would know exactly where to find me. I just kept hoping that one day you would get it, but you never did, and I just couldn't take it anymore. This was my way of... Of showing you that you care about me. More than you think you do."

John swallowed thickly, unsure of how to respond. His brow furrowed after a few moments. "What do you mean, you stayed by that monitor?"

Kaidan let out a single short laugh. "Shepard, come on. How long do you think it really takes me to fix a monitor?"

"I don't know, but you're always there, so I just thought..," John trailed off, realizing he wasn't sure what he thought.

Kaidan shook his head, smiling a little. "You happened to come by the first day I was working on it, and then you came back again on the second. I fixed it that night. But I went back and fiddled around with it on the third day, just to see if you'd show up. When you did, I thought that maybe we were both feeling the same thing, and so I hung around. I figured if you knew where to find me, we could eventually figure this out. But it had been weeks, and nothing had changed, and I just wanted you to figure out what I already knew."

John blinked as Kaidan let out a long breath. John murmured, "So instead of telling me you have feelings for me, you blow off work and ignore the intercom?"

 

Kaidan blushed. "It... sounds so much worse when you say it like that. The Normandy is in perfect condition. Nothing really needs to get repaired or anything. There's already other crewmembers assigned to doing routine matinence. And I always give one hundred percent when I'm on missions, you know that. That's where I'm really needed, anyway." He paused. "I guess ignoring the pages was a bit much. Sorry, sir, I was just so fed up, and I-"

"Don't call me that," John interrupted.

Kaidan looked a bit surprised and confused. "What?"

"Sir. Don't call me sir, Kaidan. At least, not right now. It just feels weird." John tilted his neck slightly and rolled his right shoulder a little.

Kaidan's eyes flashed over to John's shoulder. He licked his lips, quick and unintentional, then nodded. "Yeah. Right. Sorry, Shepard."

John closed his eyes for a moment, then slowly opened them. "Call me John," he murmured, eyeing Kaidan's lips.

Kaidan's eyes softened and he nodded. His voice was low as he said, "J-John." He took a deep breath, then let it out slowly. He nodded again. "Okay, John."

John nodded and smiled softly. "Good," he murmured, leaning in towards Kaidan's lips. He licked his lips and whispered, "You know... I always noticed you, Kaidan."

Kaidan let out a little groan and surged forward to meet John in thier first kiss. It was only awkward for a second, then they both quickly figured out how to angle thier mouths to make it count.

After a minute, John pulled back with a smirk, licking his lips. "That was excellent."

Kaidan grinned. "I'd say so, Commander."

 

John gently rested his forehead against Kaidan's. He was so overjoyed that he could barely think. John laughed, then shook his head. "I'm gonna kill Garrus."

Kaidan scoffed. "Come on, you love him like a brother. You're not gonna kill him. Besides, he was only doing me a favor."

John grumbled, "Yeah, but he SAW me running around this entire place looking for you, he could've said SOMETHING!"

"Did you really look everywhere for me?" Kaidan asked, amused.

"Yes, and it was AWFUL. Now everyone thinks I'm a crazy person," John sighed in reply.

Kaidan smirked. "Did you even check the women's bathroom?"

John stopped. "No," he replied after a pause. He snorted out a laugh. "I actually didn't."

"Well, see, there you go, then. You didn't actually check EVERYWHERE," Kaidan said.

John shook his head. "I was ready to check the interior of the Normandy's hull."

Kaidan laughed loudly. "You were not!"

John nodded, smirking. "Scout's honor."

"You were never a boy scout," Kaidan replied.

"Does that matter?" John smirked.

"It just puts the validity of your whole statement into question, you see." Kaidan was clearly trying not to laugh.

John let out an exaggerrated sigh. "Fine. Former gang member's honor. That better?"

Kaidan smirked and nodded. "Much."

John laughed. "I still can't believe you weren't fixing that monitor this whole time!"

Kaidan grinned wide. "Nope. Just kept screwing a bolt in an out of the side. Really, John. Did you think I just HAPPENED to be fixing the monitor right outside of your quarters?"

John paused. "Um... Yes?"

Kaidan shook his head, smirking. "No."

John laughed. "You're crazy."

"I thought you were the crazy one around here," Kaidan replied.

John was about to open his mouth to reply when there was a knock on the door. "You two almost done in there? Do I still need to stand guard out here or what?"

"Thanks, Garrus, you can go. Door's got a lock," John called back, reaching over to lock said door. He heard Garrus mumble something about them being ridiculous as he walked away.

Kaidan grinned wide at John and laughed. "You ARE crazy!"

John grinned back. He could live with that.


End file.
